Heaven is a place on earth with you
by Jabberjay44
Summary: katniss and Peeta find love agien and make each other stronger. POST- MOCKINGJAY, PRE EPILOGUE.
1. Chapter 1

**I DON'T OWN THE HUNGER GAMES! IT BELONGS TO THE AMEZING SUZANNE COLLINS**

CHAPTER 1: THE LOVE OF MY LIFE

Late afternoon light is slipping throw the window in my living room. It touches Peeta's face, his nose, his wavy blond hair, his cheeks and his eyes. Oh, his eyes. These beautiful ocean- blue eyes. When I look into his eyes, I know where I belong. And I belong with him. He came back from the Capitol a few months ago. Nothing has happen between us. Ever since he came back, all I wanted was to feel his lips on mine. His strong embrace at night. That hasn't happened. But what I do see is a sign that he might still feel and want the same. I can see the way his blue eyes shin when I talk to him. His smile is the same smile from the first arena. These things make me so happy. I hope my eyes show him the same things. Because I want him to know. I want him to say it back, when I say it to him. Of course, I haven't said it, yet. I'm waiting for the right time. We are sitting in my living room. He is talking about the bakeries in the Capitol. The ovens they have there, the fancy cakes, and bread." Peeta," I ask after he stops talking. "Hm?" "Do you remember, in the first arena, you asked me to tell you a story?" I ask. "I remember. Why?" "Can you tell me a story? From your childhood?" "well…." He begins. "When I was young, my father used to tell me stories about what the world was like before Panem. Stories that his father used to tell him. Stories that past down generations in my family. He told me about a place called Africa, and Europe. But my favorite story was about a place named Alaska. My father said it was a place of freedom. For animals and humans, a place of wilderness. He said that if he ever had a daughter, he would name her Alaska." He finishes with sadness in his voice. "I really miss them, Katniss. All of them. I wish I could just see them one more time. Just to say goodbye." A tear is sliding down his face, and I vanish it with my thumb. He closes his eyes to my touch. Then, I kiss him. Very softly, on the lips. He immediately returns my kiss, and I give a little smile against his lips. We part after a few seconds. Then I lean close to him, and whisper in his ear. "I love you." He smiles and kisses me ever so softly. "I love you too, Katniss. I will always love you." And we just sit there. I'm surrounded by the warmth of his embrace, my head resting on his shoulder, his cheek resting against my head, and I fall asleep. I feel him gathering me in his arms, carrying me up the stairs towards my bedroom. He places me on the bed, covers me and kisses my lips. "goodnight, Katniss." He says as he walks away. I flutter my eyes open, and catch his hand in mine. "Stay with me?" he smiles at me, like I should know the answer. "Always". He gets under the covers and hugs me, one hand around my waist as my head rests on the other. One of my hands is placed on his chest, right above his heart, and my other hand in his hair. That night, I know I can truly sleep. Because Peeta will be here to protect me from the nightmares, to hold me in his arms when they come. But tonight, I'm not afraid of falling asleep. I crave for sleep. Because I know that when I wake up, Peeta will be here. And his blue eyes and loving heart will be here. So for now, I'm not afraid.

The next morning I wake up to the realization that I didn't have any nightmares. Not one. And as I hoped, the blue eyes of the man I love were staring at me. Looking into his eyes, I can see everything. From pure love, to hate. I don't think the hate part is about me. At least not the real hate. Maybe that part belongs to the past. Where "people" made him someone he isn't. When they tortured him. Hurt him. Maybe almost killed him. The thought makes tears appear in my eyes, falling down my cheeks. Peeta looks at me, worried. "What is it?" he asks, concerned. "It was my fault. What they did to you. And I'm so sorry, Peeta. I am. I'm so so sorry!" I cry. "It's not your fault, Katniss. It's not!" I shake my head and turn away from him. "No! Hey, look at me! Katniss, we both made mistakes in that arena. But this was the past. We can't go back there. I won't allow you to go back. We need to move forward. Because we won, Katniss. We defeated the Capitol. There are no more games. We are free. And if we go back, we will never leave that arena, we will stay there because we can't let it go. We need to make each other stronger because better days are going to come. And when they do, I want us to be happy." The room is filled with bright sun light, that doesn't hide my tears. I nod and we kiss, a deep kiss. Deep enough to drown the sorrow, the sadness. Filling us with love. And there's something else. Hunger. The hunger I felt in the Hunger Games is coming back, and this time, full force. I can feel it all over my body. the kiss becomes more passionate, more urgent, and I go with it. I don't want to go too far. Not right now. But we don't break apart. A knock on the door makes me pull back, but Peeta brings me back in. I ignore the knocking till we hear Haymitch shouts with his drank voice, and we break apart. Too bad, I think. Sometimes, I really hate are drunk neighbor.


	2. Chapter 2

**I DON'T OWN THE HUNGER GAMES!**

CHAPTER 2: THE SONG OF THE PHOENIX

"What?" I yell, as the bedroom door opens. "Have you seen Pe-"he stops, as he notice Peeta, and the way we are hugging and the deep pink that appears on my face. "Well, looks like you tow are having a good time!" he spits at us, drunk as he can be. "Anyway, Peeta, I wanted to ask you about your tattoo-" "Shhhh!" Peeta says, and I look at him confused. Hymitch gives an embarrassed look, and Peeta stands up. "Well, Hymitch and I are going to talk outside for a minute." Peeta says, as he rushes over to Hymitch and slightly pushes him out the door of my room. I rush over to the door and put my ear against it. "She doesn't now! Have some tact!" says Peeta in a hashed voice. "Fine. I just wanted to know where you did it." "In the capitol, right before I left." Peeta says. "Thanks". I hear Hymitch's footsteps down the stair, and then a door slamming. I sit back down on the bed, like nothing happened. "Hi, let's have some breakfast." Peeta says as he opens the door and offers his hand for me. I take it, and we walk towards the kitchen. There is already full daylight streaming throw the windows in my kitchen, when we sit down for breakfast. Pancakes, syrup, black berries and fruit salad are served. I take 2 fat pancakes, berries, and some salad on to my plat. "You like it?" Peeta asks as he takes a pancake and some salad. "What tattoo?" I say, ignoring his question. "There's no tattoo". He says, and I have to say, if I haven't known him, I would have believed him. "Yes there is! I heard you say it!" I stare at him. In the past, he would have given up. But his changed. We both have. And his not backing down. "Look, I'll tell you when the time is right. OK?" I'm not happy about it. But we just started a relationship, so I won't push him. But, tow can play at this game. "Fine. Then I won't kiss you until the time is right." I say, giving him a vicious smile and get back to my pancake like nothing happened. "Oh really? We'll see". "I guess we will".

What have I done? Couldn't I say, 'I won't hug you'? I want to kiss him! But if I do then he wins, and I look weak. But, I could try to seduce him. I'm evil. It's noon. Peeta is on the couch painting in a small notebook. I come up behind him, placing my chin on his left shoulder, and sigh. He is wearing a black T-Shirt with sleeves that ands in the elbow. Always long sleeves, I think to myself. Never short. "So…what are you painting?" I ask childishly. "Nothing, yet." I look down and see that the page is whit and empty. "Have any ideas?" he asks. "how about….. a tattoo, maybe? "he laughs. "No. anything else on your mind?" I can't help it any longer so I kiss him on the cheek. "No. I'll try to think of something."

"You lost, you know that, right?" he says, satisfied. "Did I?" I lean in and kiss him once. And then again. And again. Short kisses. He can barely respond and I pull back. "That's all you're going to get until you tell me." He smiles "Fine." I get upset. "What's your problem? Just show me the damn tattoo!"

"Katniss, I don't want to! What is so hard to understand?" he is yelling now. And I feel vulnerable. "Why?" I ask simply. His voice softens. "Because, I don't think you're going to like it. That you won't understand." "So," I say, "explain it to me. And I like everything about you." He sighs. "Fine". He takes of his shirt and my heart skips a beat. Then, I can see it.

On his left arm, from the shoulder down, a little bit above his elbow, there is a tattoo, of a bird, burning. But I know that bird. It's a phoenix. It's surrounded by bright yellows, oranges, reds, and the blue you can see in a flame. It surrounds the bird from all sides. The bird itself is in a flight position aiming for the sky. It looks so free. And I don't need him to explain. He rose from the ashes, he fought, and he survived. Like the phoenix. He's burned. We all are. But he's free. Aiming for the sky. I just smile. I think he knows I understand. I go up to him and hug him, tears in my eyes. With him, I feel free. With him, I can fly. Peeta dries my tears. Vanishes them with his thumb. And kiss me. And I kiss him back. And I love him. And he knows it.


	3. Chapter 3

**I DON'T OWN THE HUNGER GAMES!**

CHAPTER 3: GOOD FRIENDS

It's been about four months since Peeta showed me his tattoo. Well, since I made him show me his tattoo. We've only been growing strong. Peeta has opened a new bakery. He was worried at first, but he did it. And I couldn't be more proud. My feelings for Peeta grows stronger every second. I love him so much that it hurts. His birthday was yesterday. He didn't want to make it a big dil. The gays at the bakery made him this huge cake. I gave my own gift. He just came home from the bakery with the cake in his hands, when I jumped into his arms and kissed him. From that point, things went, well, wonderful.

We fall into a night of love and passion. A night that I will always remember. Just Peeta and me. I think of all this while my eyes are closed, but I'm awake. I can feel Peeta's bare chest as I rest my head on it. His strong arms wrap around my bare back. I open my eyes, looking up. I see his blue ones staring at me. Oh god, I love his eyes. "Good morning," I say with a sleepy voice. "Morning. " He says with a smile.

"I'm going to make breakfast". He says, kissing my forehead. "OK, I'll be down in a minute." I kiss him on the lips as he gets out of the bed and puts on some clothes. "I love you". I say to him before he leaves the room. "I love you too, beautiful." He says back.

I get out of the bed, put some clothes on, brush my teeth, and braid my hair.

It's still early morning when I go downstairs towards the kitchen. Peeta is there, making breakfast, with his back facing me. Through Peeta's white shirt you can see the claw marks I left on his back. I walk up behind him, wrapping my hands around his waist, my head resting on his shoulder. "Sorry about your back". I say with a small smile on my lips. "Don't worry about it," he says as he turns around to face me. "I take it as a good review." He smiles and kisses me deeply. "A very good review". I say kissing him back. We're standing in the middle of the kitchen, kissing. I put my arms around his neck, as he puts his around my waist. I open my mouth and his tongue slides in. we kiss, for a long time, are tongues mingling with each other. A knock on the door disturbs us and we pull away. I go to the door as Peeta returns to the burning beacon on the frying pan.

I open the door, ready to scream at Hymitch fore interrupting us, when I see Johanna Mason, with a suitcase in her hand and a small bag hanging on her shoulder. "Hey Mockingjay". She says. "Hey….."

I reply, shocked. "I'm crushing at your house for a couple of weeks." she says, letting herself in. "it's not a good time and-" She cuts me off. "Thanks, I appreciate it" "sure…."I say, closing the door. I walk towards the kitchen and Peeta looks at me, then at Johanna, which has already sat down in the table, and started eating our breakfast. I shake my head. "I don't know". I mouthed. "Well….. I'm gonna get ready for work." He says. "OK. I think your work clothes are in the bedroom." I say." Thanks. I'll be back in a minute". He says as he goes up the stairs. I look at him until I can't see him anymore, then turns back to my beacon. I see Johanna staring at me from the corner of my eye. "what?" I ask, my mouth full of beacon. "what's with Peeta's back?" I remember the visible claw marks. "A….." I try to think of something believable that won't reveal what Peeta and I did last night. "It's the cat!" I spit out. "Ha?" Johanna asks, confused. "It doesn't like Peeta!" I say. "No. that's not cat claw marks, that's…..ohhhh….. I see". She starts laughing and my cheeks can't get redder than they already are. "You're wild, aren't you? I'm so glad I came!" she says. Satisfied with herself. And now, since there's no point in lying, I just don't say anything, wanting to die from embarrassment. Peeta comes down the stairs, with a dark blue shirt and black pants and white shoes. "You go man!" Johanna shouts. "stop it!" I say, hiding my smile. Peeta looks confused. I walk up to him, and say "she saw the claw marks on your back. Sorry". I say in a hushed voice. "Oh my god. She'll never stop." He says. "I know". I reply. "if she keeps going like this, you should get your bow". He says and we both laugh. "Promise". I say. He kisses me on the lips.  
"see you in a few hours". He says as we break apart. "OK. Bye." I kiss him again. "bye Johanna!" he says and leaves. And I wish he'd stay.


End file.
